Oct.^i, 1872J 



NA TURE 



543 



tinct classes of Engines and Machines of various kinds ; (c) 

 Practical Essays on Subjects allied to Engineering, as for 

 instance, Metallurgy ; and [il) Particulars of Experiments and 

 Olistrsations connected with Engineering Science and Practice. 

 A list of thirty seven special subjects recommended for competi- 

 tion is appended. For approved original communications, the 

 Council will be prepared to award the premiums arising out of 

 special funds devoted for the purpose. 



The Crystal Palace Company's school of Art, Science, and 

 Literature, has issued its prospectus for the thirteenth session, 

 1872-73, of classes for gentlemen, conducted by eminent pro- 

 fessors and teachers. 



The following are the Science Lectures for the People to be 

 given this winter at Manchester :— The first on Tuesday, Oct. 

 29, by Prof. Roscoe, F.R.S., On the Rainbow; and these 

 other lectures will follow : — Prof. Geikie, F. R. S., On the Ice Age 

 in Britain ; Prof Balfour Stewart, F.R.S., The Sun and the 

 Earth ; Prof. Clifford, On Atoms ; Prof. Barrett, On 

 Faraday's Electrical Discoveries ; Dr. J. H. Gladstone, 

 F.R.S., The Life of Faraday ; Mr. William Pengelly, 

 F. R.S., Prehistoric Man. The fee for each of these lectures, 

 as before, is one penny ! Many people will wish they lived in 

 Manchester. 



The following lectures will be delivered in Gresham College, 

 Pasinghall Street, E.C., by E. Symes Thompson, M.D. ; 

 On Draughts, Friday, Nov. S ; On Mineral and Vegetable Tonics, 

 Monday, Nov. II ; On Prescriptions, Tuesday, Nov. 12. The 

 lectures are illustrated by diagrams and experiments, are free to 

 the public, and commence each evening at seven o'clock. 



The following lectures are announced to be delivered in con- 

 nection with the Torquay Natural History Society : — Introduc- 

 tory Address, by Dr. Wilks (President), Nov. 4. The Fertilisa- 

 tion of Flowers, by Dr. Wilks, Nov. 25. " Natural Selection," 

 by Dr. Wilks, Dec. 2. Museums and Our Museum, by the Rev. 

 T. K. R. Stebbing, M.A., Dec. 9. Fossils as characteristic of 

 Strata, by J. E. Lee, F.G.S., F.S.A., Dec. 16. The Share of 

 the Italians in the Progress of the Natural Sciences, by Signor 

 Olivieri, Lit. and Phil. Doctor, Jan. 27, 1873. The Unity and 

 Progress of Man, by J. B. Paige Browne, March 3. Monte 

 Rosa — its Peaks, Valleys, and Glaciers, by Dr. Wilks, March 17. 

 Teleology, by Rev. T. R. R. Stebbings, M.A., March 24. 

 Curiosities of Natural History, by Dr. C. Paget Blake, April 7. 

 Aerostation, by W. Froude.^F.R.S., April 21. 



In addition to our announcements of last week, Mr- 

 Van Voorst announces as follows : — Mr. W. Saville Kent, 

 of the .British Museum, is engaged upon a new "Manual 

 of the Infusoria : " the treatise will be devoted entirely 

 to the Ciliate, Flagellate, and Suctorial Protozoa, to the 

 exclusion of the Desmids, Diatoms, Rotifers, and other 

 foreign organisms comprised under the above title by Elirenberg, 

 Pritchard, and other writers ; the Rev. Thomas Ilincks is pre- 

 paring for publication "A History of British Polyzoa" with 

 figures of all the species, uniform with his " Hydroid Zoophytes;" 

 "The Birds of the Humber district," by John Cordeaux of 

 Great Cotes, Ulceby, is in the press ; a second edition, 

 with new plates and additions, of " Falconry in the British 

 Isles," by Capt. Salvin and Wm. Brodrick, is in .prepara- 

 tion. 



The Zoological Society has just issued a revised list of the 

 valuable animals now or lately living in the Society's Gardens. 

 It contains a list of nearly 500 Mammalia, upwards of 1,000 Aves, 

 and nearly 300 Reptilia, Batrachia, and Pisces, with their habitats 

 and dates of acquisition, and is illustrated by 30 very well- 

 executed woodcuts. As the list is published at the very low 



price of 2j., it ought to be in the hands of every one who is in 

 the habit of using the Gardens. 



Proi". Miguel Colmeiro, director of the Botanic Garden 

 at Madrid, announces the publication of the second edition of a 

 " Treatise on the Elements of Bi:)tany, organographic, physiologi- 

 cal, systematic, and geographical," in two vols,, with numerous 

 illustrations. Prof. Colmeiro is the author of thirty separate 

 papers on botanical subjects. 



A SECOND edition is announced as in the press of Gardiner's 

 " Flora of Forfarshire," edited by Mr. John Sadler, author ot 

 the "Flora of Edinburgh." Many important additions will be 

 made to the original work, in which the editor will be assisted 

 by resident botanists, and the autlior's valuable notes on the 

 different species, and on various localities of special Interest, will 

 be retained. 



John Heywoou's recently-published School Atlas is a marvel 

 of cheapness. It contains twelve coloured maps about 10 in. by 

 Sin., of Europe, the two hemispheres, England and Wales, the 

 British Isles (physical), Scotland, Ireland, Asia, Africa, North 

 and South America, and Australia ; and the price is Sixpence ! 



The following we take from the School Board Chronide : 



"Some curious statistics have been published, establishing a 

 suggestive comparison between the expenses of education and 

 police supervision in the cities of St. Petersburg, Berlin, and 

 Vienna. With regard to education, the expenses of the Russian 

 capital are estimated at one per cent, of the total budget ; Vienna 

 stands as high as nine per cent. ; and Berlin reaches thirty-one. 

 Costs of philanthropic institutions are represented by the propor- 

 tions of Berlin, twenty-two ; Vienna, fifteen ; and St. Peters- 

 burg, nine per cent. Of course, the ratio becomes inverted 

 when we turn to the expenses of the police force. Here we find 

 Prussia down for seventeen, Austria for twenty-one, and Russia 

 for fifty-one (figures of comparison). Berlin employs one police- 

 manfor every 495 of its inhabitants, Viennaone for every 416, and 

 St. Petersburg one for every 210. The practical teaching of these 

 statistics is, that while Berlin pays twice as much for schools as 

 for prisons and police, Vienna pays two and one-third times less, 

 and St. Petersburg fifty times less." 



The same journal prints the foUowmg item of information : — 

 " Reports concerning the four Prussian academies for the scien- 

 tific pursuit of agricultural knowledge inform us that these insti- 

 tutions have been frequented during the past summer term by 

 173 students. Of these 65 were newly matriculated, and lo im- 

 matriculated. Classified according to their nationality there 

 were 117 from Prussia, 13 from other German States, and 43 

 foreigners. In order of academic population Proskau stands 

 first with 63 students ; then comes Poppelsdorf, near Bonn, with 

 43 ; after that the institution at Berlin with 37 ; and last of all 

 the Academy at Eldena with 30 students. 



The followmg, in reference to education in Greece, is againfrom 

 the same journal : — " From 1S35 to 1869, the number of students 

 at the University of Athens had increased from 35 to 1,205; 

 the number of gymnasia in Greece, which was 3 in 1S35, 

 had risen to 16 by the year 1S66. During the same period of 

 time the number of secondary schools had increased from 21 to 

 1S9, and that of the pupils frequenting them from 2,500 to 7,300 ; 

 within 33 years, also (1S33-66), the national elementary schools 

 had increased from 17 to 1,070, and the scholars from S,ooo to 

 65,000. Among the secondary schools there were, in 1869, 5 

 institutions for girls, numbering 680 pupils. As a sorrowful set- 

 off to such cheering news, it must be mentioned that there are 

 stdl in Greece 240,000 children and youths who receive no edu- 

 cation whatever ; that is to say, more than thi^ee times the num- 

 ber of those who frequent the schools. 



